Jenson Button
British · 2000–2017
Photo: Phil Guest from Bournemouth, UK · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Jenson Button is living proof that in Formula 1 timing is everything. He debuted in 2000 aged just twenty with obvious natural speed, yet spent almost a decade drifting through teams that never gave him a winning car, brushing against the frustration of wasted talent.
Everything changed in 2009. Honda's withdrawal gave rise to the Brawn GP miracle, a team born from the ashes that built the BGP 001, the car to beat that season thanks to its controversial double diffuser. Button seized the start with six wins in the first seven races and then managed the lead intelligently to be crowned world champion.
His move to McLaren, where he chose to partner Hamilton, confirmed his class: far from being overwhelmed, he outscored him in their first year together. Smooth, analytical and lethal in the rain and with tyre management, he left the memory of an elegant champion and a gentleman of the paddock.
What if Button had another car?
We took his real attributes and put him in the best car of each era: in a real driver's seat, against the team-mate that car actually had. 20 full seasons in each.
| Car | Team-mate | Finish | Wins | Titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| McLaren1988 | Alain Prost-62 pts | P1.9 | 3.6 | 10% |
| Williams1992 | Riccardo Patrese+40 pts | P1.3 | 7.8 | 80% |
| Ferrari2002 | Rubens Barrichello+59 pts | P1.1 | 11.2 | 90% |
| Red Bull2013 | Mark Webber+78 pts | P1 | 13.5 | 100% |
| Mercedes2016 | Lewis Hamilton-49 pts | P1.9 | 7 | 10% |
| Red Bull2023 | Sergio Perez+78 pts | P1 | 16 | 100% |
| Cadillac2026 · 11th on the grid | Valtteri Bottas+34 pts | P9.1 | 0 | 0% |
The only one who beats him is Alain Prost in the 1988 McLaren: 62 points clear over a full season.
Ver en españolRating by season
- First season
- 80 2000
- Peak
- 87 2009
- 2016
- 76 McLaren
17 seasons in the database, from 2000 to 2016. Our own rating, from 50 to 99.
Teams
Tags
Best year
2009
What would Jenson Button have achieved with a different car or in a different era?
Hypotheses featuring Jenson Button
Related drivers
.jpg){kind=link}
His team-mates
12 team-mates across 18 seasons. When both finished the race, Button was ahead in 102 of 175; on the grid he started ahead in 135 of 309.
| Year | Team-mate | In the race | On the grid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Ralf SchumacherWilliams · 17 races | 1-5 | 6-11 |
| 2001 | Giancarlo FisichellaBenetton · 17 races | 0-6 | 4-13 |
| 2002 | Jarno TrulliRenault · 17 races | 2-2 | 5-12 |
| 2003 | Jacques VilleneuveBAR · 15 races | 3-1 | 8-7 |
| 2003 | Takuma SatoBAR · 1 race | 1-0 | 1-0 |
| 2004 | Takuma SatoBAR · 18 races | 9-1 | 10-8 |
| 2005 | Takuma SatoBAR · 16 races | 8-0 | 15-1 |
| 2005 | Anthony DavidsonBAR · 1 race | · | 1-0 |
| 2006 | Rubens BarrichelloHonda · 18 races | 10-2 | 9-9 |
| 2007 | Rubens BarrichelloHonda · 17 races | 4-5 | 10-7 |
| 2008 | Rubens BarrichelloHonda · 18 races | 6-4 | 8-10 |
| 2009 | Rubens BarrichelloBrawn · 17 races | 11-4 | 7-10 |
| 2010 | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren · 19 races | 3-10 | 6-13 |
| 2011 | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren · 19 races | 7-7 | 7-12 |
| 2012 | Lewis HamiltonMcLaren · 20 races | 3-7 | 5-15 |
| 2013 | Sergio PérezMcLaren · 19 races | 11-5 | 10-9 |
| 2014 | Kevin MagnussenMcLaren · 19 races | 14-3 | 9-10 |
| 2015 | Fernando AlonsoMcLaren · 18 races | 5-4 | 8-10 |
| 2015 | Kevin MagnussenMcLaren · 1 race | · | 1-0 |
| 2016 | Fernando AlonsoMcLaren · 20 races | 4-7 | 5-15 |
| 2016 | Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren · 1 race | · | 0-1 |
| 2017 | Stoffel VandoorneMcLaren · 1 race | · | 0-1 |
The first number is always Button's. A team-mate is whoever started the same race for the same team. "In the race" only counts races both finished, because a retirement says nothing about who was quicker. "On the grid" is the starting position, with penalties already applied.
Compare Button with another driver
Titles, wins, poles and podiums side by side, against any of the 789 drivers in history.
Keep reading
Where Jenson Button comes up in what we have measured, with our own numbers.
- 7 min readWhat new regulations do to the grid: 1,200 seasons measuredA normal year moves a car performance by 2.64 points; the year new rules arrive, 8.49. And 58% of regulation changes produce a new grid leader. The…
- 8 min readHow many races does it take for the best driver to win? 2,700 seasons measuredWe re-ran 2007, 2010, 2021 and 2024 a hundred and fifty times each, with calendars of 5, 10, 16 and 22 races. In a lopsided year five races are alr…
- 6 min readIn 1982, eleven different drivers won. In 2023, threeWe counted the winners of every season since 1950. Variety has fallen decade after decade, and the years with fewest different winners are exactly…